Stephens

Formed August 18, 1905 (141^st county)

Stephens County (26,787), Toccoa (9,104)                

A Modern style brown brick courthouse was built in 2000 to replace the 1905 structure.  It is located on Alexander, Tugalo, Sage, and Doyle streets.  Georgia State Highway 17 Alternative is one block south of the site.  The architect is unknown for this new building.  The old courthouse, designed by H. L. Lewman, is being converted to county office space.  It features columns and a dome with a working clock.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  The county center is in Toccoa 4.1 miles Southeast of the city center.  The county was created on August 18, 1905 from parts of Franklin and Habersham counties as the 141^st county.  Toccoa has been the only county seat.  The Tugaloo River forms its eastern border.  Congressman Alexander Stephens provided his name for the county.  Toccoa is Native American for “where the Catawbas live.” 

Stephens County government consists of a manager, a sheriff, an administrator, a coroner, a clerk, and a tax commissioner (executive).  It has 6 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-eight Superior Court Judges serve Stephens, Cherokee, Dawson, Fannin, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gwinnett, Habersham, Hall, Lumpkin, Pickens, Rabun, Towns, Union, and White counties and a State Judge and Six County Judges, court clerk, and county attorney serve Stephens County (judicial.) Stephens County is in the northeast part of the state on the border with South Carolina.  The county is surrounded clockwise by South Carolina and Franklin, Banks, and Habersham counties.  Athens is south and Greenville, SC is east of the county. 

The area of the county is 179 square miles.  It is 148 out of 159 counties in the state.  It ranks 71 out of 159 in population in the state.  It has a density of 149.7 persons per square mile making it 43 out of 159 in the state.  Stephens County has 36.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 123 enters the county from South Carolina and goes west into Habersham County.  The county’s shape is a triangle.  Toccoa is located in the northwest quarter of the county.  Toccoa is the county seat and the largest city.  It has 34.0% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced TOE-KOE-A.  This county is in the Toccoa Micropolitan Statistical Area.